Murat Miroglu - 2023 Demo Reel - Modelling and Texturing

Hey! Here's my graduation demo reel which I completed during my studies at Kwantlen Polytechnic University / The Centre for Entertainment Arts in 2023. I'm glad to share the back story of the projects I worked on. :)

While I was searching for inspiration, I stumbled upon the beautiful design of a vintage motorcycle from the 1910s. I was instantly drawn to the design and decided to create my own version of the motorcycle with a story behind it.

I imagined a motorcycle that had traveled the world and had been treated with care by its owner despite being ridden for over a century. I modeled and textured the whole asset as a hero asset and tried going further to tell the story with the finer details. I gathered up the environmental elements like rocks, dirt, and mountains from Quixel Megascans to create a set to help me tell the story.

I wanted to capture the adventurous spirit of the motorcycle and its owner, who had been through so much together. While the whole hard surface modeling phase was done in Maya, I created high-resolution meshes to sculpt finer details in ZBrush. So, I was able to extract displacement maps. ZBrush was also my main tool while creating the organic models. 

To discover new ways of tackling potential issues, I experimented with a range of materials and explored how they interacted with each other. Substance Painter served as my main tool during the texturing phase, and I tried out various techniques for both hard surface and organic models. I decimated high-definition organic assets so that Substance Painter could handle them smoothly.

One of the most challenging aspects of the project was accurately reproducing the intricate mechanical components of the motorcycle. To overcome this, I gathered numerous reference images and experimented with various approaches. Ultimately, I was able to overcome this obstacle and resolve the issues. Additionally, optimizing the topology made the UV mapping process much easier.

I enjoyed the opportunity to showcase my modeling and texturing skills while emphasizing the storytelling aspect of the project. Also, thanks to my supervisors who gave directions throughout the project.

My main goal was to transcend the boundaries of a realistic-looking hand model. I dived deep into the shot sculpting workflow. 

Firstly, I rigged the hand basically and added volume correctives which are driven by the joints.

Then, I created blend shapes and sculpted specific keyframes. I had a lot of fun throughout the process and learned so many aspects of the workflow. 

Also, I spent time on the shading and the compositing phases to support realism.

My skink project was an incredible opportunity for me to dive into various aspects of the pipeline, allowing me to gain a deeper understanding of each department's needs while crafting a realistic-looking creature.

Through this project, I did modeling, sculpting, retopo, surfacing, rigging, animating, match moving, lighting, and compositing.

The whole journey taught me tons of skills and knowledge. I hope you like them. Thank you so much for your interest! :)

Credits

Environment: Quixel Megascans
HDRI images: HDR Sky Cloudy 004 - poliigon.com / Sergej Majboroda - polyhaven.com / Greg Zaal - polyhaven.com
Music: It was a time - TrackTribe